Migrating from AOL to Gmail

Migrating from AOL to Gmail
Written by Ben   
Friday, 03 June 2011 20:20
It has been awhile since I have had to work with AOL. Every so often I've had to test website compatibility with their browser (which is a whole other issue), but for the most part it's been a relic of Web 1.0. However, I recently had a client who wanted to move from their AOL email account to an email account at their own domain name.

I have set up email using a custom domain name on multiple occasions. The best way is to use Google's services (which they are now calling Google Apps - rather confusing if you ask me) to integrate the domain name with Gmail. If a client already uses a Gmail account, it's a simple step to allow them to receive email from and send as This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . However, adding a step to migrate from AOL to Gmail was not something I had ever attempted.

Essentially there are three goals for migrating (in order of importance):

  1. The new Gmail account should be able to receive all new incoming email from the old AOL account,
  2. Import old email and contacts from the old AOL account into the new Gmail account,
  3. Preserve folders and groupings for old email and contacts from the old AOL account.

I did not have much faith in AOL's email functionality, especially in functionality that would allow a user to migrate from their services. Luckily I was surprised. AOL allowed both exporting of contacts through a CSV file and POP3 access from other email clients (like Outlook, Thunderbird, and in our case Gmail). Even better (and even more surprising) they provided documentation of how to do it:


While a CSV file and POP3 would not allow for preservation of folders and groupings, it would copy all email and contacts and allow the copies to live in Gmail. (IMAP on the other hand would preserve folders for email, but it would not copy it to the new account.) So the top two out of three goals isn't too bad. And with Gmail's filters and labels, it's not too hard to re-sort old emails.

The great thing about this solution is that you don't even need to set up a forwarder with AOL. Gmail will pull new email so long as the POP3 is active.

Thank you AOL for making this a much easier process than I ever would expect from you. Perhaps I should reconsider your services...
Last Updated on Friday, 03 June 2011 21:02
 

Comments  

 
0 #1 Naomi Rose 2011-06-19 18:42
I'm the client referred to in this posting, and Ben did a great job of moving me to gmail -- not an easy task given how long I've been on AOL. Thanks, Ben!
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